1. Field of the Invention
This patent relates generally to electrical switches and in particular to a sealed slide switch having a pivoting toggle type of operation.
2. Description of Related Art
Sealed switches are desired or often necessary for various applications where the switch needs to be sealed so that corrosives, dust, and other impurities in the atmosphere will not impair operation of the switch or shorten its useful life. Further, a sealed switch is required to protect a switch during certain component board processes such as wave soldering.
The sealing of slide switches has generally been accomplished by a secondary operation of installing a boot on the switch to protect it during various fabrication steps which otherwise would be damaging to the switch. Secondary operations add cost to these switches. Another approach is to provide a sealing means within the slide switch, but then the movement of the slide is not easy or smooth resulting in poor feel and inferior seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,387 issued Mar. 4, 1980 to Francis D. Kirchoff describes a water tight seal for toggle switches. The exterior of the switch housing is watertight by reason of a turn nut compressing an O-ring. The interior of the toggle switch handle housing is made watertight, while still permitting toggle motion, by an elongated seal of solid cross section engaging the outer face of a bulbous portion of the handle and a second elongated seal of solid cross section engaging the inner face of the bulbous portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,792 issued Nov. 13, 1984 to Leo Geremia describes a sealed toggle switch having an O-ring sealed in a groove of an upper surface of a base and extending around the periphery of the same. A lead actuator 50 includes an elongated ball portion and a ball which fits against a socket or bushing and is held against the O-ring to form a seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,511 issued Mar. 15, 1988 to Budd Steinhilber et al. describes a decorator wall plate and slide caps for positioning over a toggle-type electrical switch. A switch toggle lever protrudes through an opening in a wallplate and the slide member acts as a cam to exert force upon the switch toggle and move it from one position to another position. However, it does not disclose any sealing of the slide switches, and it does not have a method for accurate translation of the slide motion to the toggle motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,258 issued Jul. 28, 1992 to Melvin A. Carrodus describes a manually operated circuit breaker with sliding action for control and setting. A linkage member fits over a switch handle and is attached through a knurled pin to the handle. The linkage member slides right or left upon a flat surface of the housing. However, it does not disclose any sealing of the slide switch. Furthermore, in small switch configurations the use of a small pin to translate sliding motion to toggle motion results in a very fragile pin subject to breakage or damage when actuated.